What Is a Digital Product Passport Under the EU Battery Regulation?

"Digital product passport" is the term the EU uses for a structured, online record of a product. For batteries, the EU Battery Regulation makes it a legal requirement. This guide explains what the battery passport actually is, without the jargon, so you can see what you are being asked to produce.

A hosted record, not a document you file

The clearest way to understand the passport is by what it is not. It is not a certificate, a PDF you email once, or a form you submit to an authority and forget. It is a structured record about a specific battery that lives online and stays reachable.

Three properties make it a passport rather than a document:

• It is structured. The information follows a defined data set, so every passport carries the same kinds of fields in the same shape, rather than free text.
• It is reachable from the product. A data carrier, in practice a QR code, on or near the battery links to it, so anyone with the physical battery can open its passport. See the data carrier and QR code rules.
• It stays available. The record has to remain online for the working life of the battery. See how long a passport must stay online.

What it contains

The content is defined in Annex XIII of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542. It covers the battery's identity and chemistry, its carbon footprint, recycled content, performance and durability, hazardous substances and safety information, and the documentation that backs those figures. See Annex XIII explained.

Not all of it is open to everyone. The regulation sets access tiers, so the general public sees one set of fields, parties with a legitimate interest see more, and authorities see the full record. See battery passport access tiers.

Why the EU is doing this

The passport is part of a broader move to make products traceable across their life. For batteries specifically, it supports market surveillance, recycling and reuse, and gives buyers and repairers reliable information about what a battery is and how it was made. For you as an importer, the practical takeaway is simpler: it is a record you have to produce, publish and maintain for each battery in scope.

What it means for importers

If you place batteries on the EU market, the passport is a deliverable you own. That involves:

1. Gathering the Annex XIII data, most of which comes from your supplier. See what your supplier must send you.
2. Publishing it as a passport reachable from the battery's data carrier.
3. Hosting it for the life of the battery, with the right fields visible to the right audiences.

The responsibility sits with you as the economic operator placing the battery on the market. See who is responsible for the battery passport.

In short

A digital product passport for a battery is a structured, hosted, online record, reachable by a QR data carrier and served in access tiers. Its content comes from Annex XIII of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542. It is not a one-off document; it is something you produce, publish and keep available for the life of the battery you place on the EU market.